Platform - General Ledger Setup

General Ledger/Accounting

Successware Platform as an Accounting Program

At its heart, Successware Platform is an accounting program, but one of the strengths of Successware Platform is that it isn't JUST an accounting program. It does the accounting, but it happens as a result of the normal day-to-day call taking, dispatching, completion of work tickets, and purchasing that is carried out by a user.

The goal of Successware Platform is to make the complicated process of entering information into a ledger sheet and balancing the books as effortless and invisible to the end-user as possible. To accomplish this, Successware Platform requires that all of your accounting information be properly setup before you begin to fully use it.

Accounting entails keeping track of where money is moving in your business. For example, keeping track of how much is spent on parts, how much is owed in Sales Tax, and how much money you made for performing an installation are all functions that are carried out automatically by Successware Platform, thereby making it easy for you to generate reports detailing the information you need.

Basic Accounting Terminology

In order to understand the accounting functions of Successware Platform, it is important that you understand some basic accounting terminology.

Accrual vs. Cash Basis Accounting

Successware Platform operates on Accrual Basis Accounting. This means that revenue is recognized on the books when it is earned. For example, when you create and post the invoice the revenue is recognized, rather than when the customer pays the bill. Expenses are recognized when they are incurred, or when you become liable for a payment, not when you pay the bill.

Successware Platform cannot be set up to run as a cash basis accounting system, where expenses and revenue are recognized when bills are paid or payments from customers are received.

The Accrual method of accounting is recognized in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP).

Types of Accounts

One of the most fundamental of accounting terms is what’s referred to as an “account.” An account is a vehicle used to keep track of the various monetary increases and decreases to specific asset, liability, or equity items regarding your business.

There are 9 categories of accounts:

Asset Accounts- these accounts represent resources that your business owns such as computers, inventory, and cash.
Liability Accounts - these are debts that your business owes, for instance, bank loans, money owed to vendors or Sales Tax that is due.
Equity Accounts- these accounts are comprised of the difference between your assets and liabilities. These could include owner’s equity and common stock.
Income Accounts- these accounts handle monies received. These could include merchandise sales, performance of a service or rental of a property. There is a subclass of accounts within Income called Returns and Allowances which allow you to identify amounts which reduce sales such as discounts or refunds.
4a. Returns and Allowances- these accounts represent money that is "given back". This can be through refunds, discounts offered to customers or chargebacks. These amounts are subtracted from sales to show you your Net Sales.
Cost of Sale Accounts- these accounts accommodate the tracking of costs relating to the sale of goods. This would include the cost of goods, associated labor and even sales commissions.
Expense Accounts- these include general operating expenses incurred to run your business such as rent, utilities and interest expenses.
Other Income- this is revenue generated outside the normal course of business, such as from the sale of an asset, or even from a vending machine.
Other Expenses- these are costs not directly related to the normal course of business. An example might be an account for “Flood Loss.”
Income Taxes- these accounts represent the amounts that you owe in Federal and State Income tax.

Each of these account categories are sub-divided into specialized accounts that accommodate specific activities relating to your business. The number of individual accounts that you establish depends on how you want to track your cash flow.

Debits & Credits

Accounting is based upon the premise that all transactions result in a balance of funds. To create this balance, transactions entered on the ledger contain positive and negative entries, meaning, some add to, while others subtract from. These entries are referred to as debits and credits. All debits and credits must equal each other. If they do not, the account is out of balance.

Depending on what type of account you are using, a debit or credit will either increase or decrease the account balance. The example below illustrates how each type of account is affected based on whether the entry is a debit or a credit.

Account Types	Debit	Credit
Assets	Increase	Decrease
Cost of Sales	Increase	Decrease
Expenses	Increase	Decrease
Liabilities	Decrease	Increase
Equity	Decrease	Increase
Income	Decrease	Increase

Notice that for every increase in one part of an account, there is an opposite and equal decrease in another. This is what keeps the entry in balance. Also, notice that debits are always listed on the left while credits are always listed on the right. As you read this, please keep in mind that the terms debit and credit do not necessarily mean plus and minus.

The following example shows a sample of a simple debit/credit transaction.

Account	Debit	Credit
Asset Account (Inventory)	$5
Cash Account		$5

The net sum of the transaction is zero. In this case, our value of assets went up $5 while the value of our cash account went down $5.

Successware Platform uses a system of double-entry debits and credits. This means that additional accounts are used to “hold” value until the entire transaction is complete. This allows you to account for payments as a separate transaction.

For example, when buying a part we would get an additional account, such as Accounts Payable, involved.

Purchase of part

Account	Debit	Credit
Asset Account (Inventory)	$5
Accounts Payable		$5

Payment for part

Account	Debit	Credit
Accounts Payable	$5
Cash Account		$5

After the transaction our net sum is still zero.

The double-entry rule applies generically as follows:

Selling

Accounts	Debit	Credit
Sale		X
Account Receivable	X
When Paid
Cash	X
Account Receivable		X

Buying

Accounts	Debit	Credit
Assets	X
Account Payable		X
When Paid
Cash		X
Account Payable	X

Chart of Accounts

The Chart of Accounts is a listing of all accounts that your company chooses to track. The Chart of Account lists and divides the accounts by account categories. These categories can be further divided into sub-categories with individual accounts listed under those sub-categories. Successware Platform comes pre-loaded with a sample Chart of Accounts that you can modify, or use as is, to meet the needs of your company. Accounts listed in the Chart of Accounts include an account number, a class (this is the category) and a description.

All the transactions that you perform in Successware Platform will be “pre-connected” to these accounts so that at the time of entry all of the entries will be made in those accounts without the user being prompted for additional information.

Printing the Chart of Accounts

In order to compare the Successware Platform Chart of Accounts to your company’s Chart of Accounts it would be easiest to begin by printing the Chart of Accounts that came pre-installed in the Successware Platform.

Click on the icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Navigate to Reporting and then Report Gallery.
Select Financial Reports and then Chart of Accounts.
Select All (Show All Entries)
Click on the icon, select Download then click on Export to .CSV.

How does Successware Know Where to Put "IT" in the General Ledger?

One of the benefits of Successware Platform is that it makes posting to the General Ledger consistent and easy. As mentioned earlier, one of the goals on Successware Platform is to make the process of posting to the General Ledger as effortless and invisible to the end user as possible. Once your initial setup is complete, users posting transactions to the General Ledger will not have to make decisions as to what General Ledger accounts are affected by the transaction. This allows for entries such as AR and AP invoices to be entered by users that do not necessarily have bookkeeping experience or an intimate knowledge of the General Ledger structure. All they really need to know is what was bought or sold (select the item from the PriceBook) and what department was responsible for the sale or purchase.

So how does Successware Platform know what General Ledger account to post to?

Default Accounts- Default accounts are accounts that the system will post to automatically when certain transactions are processed. Default accounts are used to expedite data entry. Some examples of Default Accounts are Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales Tax, AR Invoice Discounts and AP Discounts.

Sale and Expense Types- These are drop down lists that represent the different types of things that your company buys and sells. Each is associated with or "pointed to" a General Ledger account. Sale and Expense types are attached to the items within your PriceBook. When those items are bought, sold or costed, the associated General Ledger account is posted to.

Adjustment Codes- Adjustment codes are drop-down lists used to identify the reason that a change is being made to an operational balance in a module of Successware Platform. These drop-down lists of reasons are associated with general ledger accounts. When you need to make a change to a customer's balance or a vendors balance for example, that is not associated with a new invoice or payment, an adjustment can be recorded.

General Ledger Setup

General Ledger setup consists of addressing:

Accounts- your Chart of Accounts
Sub-Accounts- break-down of the major General Ledger accounts
Default Accounts- accounts that are posted to automatically during certain default functions (A/R Trade, A/P Trade, Sales Tax, Warranty Reserve, Deferred Revenue, etc.)
Departments- your company’s profit centers for all income statement transactions.
Periods/Activation- your company’s fiscal periods and activation dates (the dates you start posting to the General Ledger in Successware Platform)
Expense Groups- groups of operating expense accounts that enable you to see sub-totals on your income statement (advertising, vehicle, etc.)
Opening Balances- your entire list of General Ledger starting balances as of your General Ledger activation date. Make sure these numbers are accurate before you enter them. You do not have to have your starting balances entered to start posting to the General Ledger in Successware Platform.

Accounts

The first step in setting up the General Ledger is to setup your Chart of Accounts. Successware Platform already comes with a standard Chart of Accounts installed. To set a Chart of Accounts up for your company, compare the installed Chart of Accounts to your existing accounts and determine what changes need to be made. You will then:

Delete unnecessary accounts and Deactivate accounts.
Change accounts, and/or
Add accounts.

Adding New Accounts

In the Module tab under Setup, Click General Ledger Setup. Each account type has categories of accounts within it that are grouped by account number.

Click the New Account button.
Select the Account Class.

Enter the Account Description
Select a Category
Select the Account Number

Deleting Accounts

It is recommended that you delete any accounts your company will not be using before you edit existing accounts or add new ones. Once an account has a transaction posted against it, the account can NEVER be deleted. If you no longer wish to use a GL account and it has posted transaction history, you can Deactivate it.

To delete an account, select delete next to the desired account you wish to delete.

Activating and Deactivating Accounts

If an account at one time carried a balance and you do not plan to use the account anymore, you may choose to deactivate the account. Deactivating the account removes it from the active account list and does not allow any further posted transactions against the account, however any posted history within the account remains available for reporting purposes. Accounts can be reactivated if necessary if you need to process additional transactions using the account in the future.

Generally, accounts are deactivated when they will no longer be used. For example, if you were to change the bank where you keep your checking account, you would not want to simply change the name of the existing GL account that represents the checking account, but rather, would deactivate the existing account and create a new GL account to represent the new checking account.

To Deactivate an Account

From the Setup module, select the General Ledger Setup.
Select the Account Class
Select the account number
Click Edit
Select or de-select to activate or de-activate
The deactivated account will remain available under the selected account class.

Sub-Accounts

Sub-accounts are used to further categorize entries in the General Ledger. For example, an account called “Loans” may have individual loans listed as sub-accounts. Sub-accounts allow you to "roll-up" detailed account balances into a grand total or master value.

In Successware Platform, you WILL NOT use sub-accounts to post general ledger transaction to individual departments, instead, each General Ledger posting has a department field included in it.

DO NOT add sub-accounts to any account number that is a default account (an account the system will post to automatically).
DO NOT add sub-accounts to an account that has a balance. Zero out the balance prior to adding the sub-account. Once an account has been assigned sub-accounts, the master account will no longer accept direct posting, a sub-account must be selected every time the account is used.

Adding Sub-Accounts

Under General Ledger Setup:

Select the account class
Click on the button.
Enter the Subaccount Name and Description.
Select Active and click the Save button.

Default Accounts

Default accounts are accounts that the system will post to automatically when certain transactions are processed. Default accounts are used to expedite data entry. For instance, by telling Successware Platform in advance what accounts you will use for such entries as Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Cash, you eliminate the need to enter the account information when making each transaction. As invoices are processed, the system automatically posts to the appropriate accounts.

Under the General Ledger Setup

Click on Default Accounts subtab.
Select desired Account Type
Select the Eligible/Sub-Accounts for Accounts Payable.
Click Yes to confirm.

Defining the Default Types

The following list defines the role played by each of the default types included in the Default Account Setup.

Accounts Payable Trade- This default points to the account into which postings and adjustments of AP Invoices, as well as adjustments and payments to a vendor account via the Payables Manager or Vendor Account History, will be made. This default points to a liability account.
Accounts Receivable Trade- This default points to the account into which postings and Adjustments of AR Invoices as well as adjustments and payments from customers recorded via the Receivables Manager or Billing Account History will be recorded. This default points to an asset account.
Agreement Deferred Revenue- If you sell an agreement and indicate that you wish to Defer Revenue, the amount that you defer at the time of activating the agreement as well as the amount posted on future periodic invoices related to the agreement will post to this default account. When visits are performed revenue will be released from this account as current revenue into the default account for Agreement Revenue- Maintenance.
Agreement Reserve- If you sell an agreement and indicate that you wish to hold Service Reserve, the amount that you chose to reserve will be placed in the default account associated with Agreement Reserve. Agreement Reserve is also reduced when you charge against an Agreement. Increases and decreases of Agreement Reserve are countered with entries to the default account for Agreement Expense.
Warranty Reserve- Installs- If you add an in-house warranty to a piece of equipment you may choose to set aside warranty reserve against that warranty. This default will be associated with a liability account. This default will be charged against when you charge items on an AR Invoice against the in-house warranty. Entries against this account are countered with an entry to the default account associated with Warranty Expense.
AR Invoice Discounts- This account is posted to when you apply a discount to an Account Receivable invoice using the Set Discount button at the bottom of the AR Invoice form.
Agreement Expense Excess- This default is used to identify the account you wish to post against when charges against an Agreement are in excess of the amount set aside in Agreement Reserve. This default points to a Direct Cost account. You may choose to point this default to the same account used for Agreement Expense.
Agreement Expense- This default is used to identify increases and decreases in agreement related expense associated with additions to and subtractions from your Agreement Reserve account. This default points to a Direct Cost account.
Agreement Revenue- Maint- This Default is used when revenue is recognized related to maintenance agreements. Entries are made in this account when payments are taken against the agreement if deferred revenue is not being used, or when the agreement visit is included on a posted AR invoice if deferred revenue is being used. This default account points to a Sale account.
Agreement Revenue- Service- This default identifies the account into which you will post agreement revenue related to the service portion of an agreement. This account points to a Sale account.
Finance Charge- Finance charges posted from Accounts Receivable will be posted against this Default Account.
Inventory- If you have activated inventory, this account will be used to maintain the asset value of the stock in your warehouses.
Inventory Adjustment Overflow- This default is used to identify the account into which balances will be posted related to Overflow inventory adjustment. This is used when you need to make a value change to a quantity of inventory items, but don’t have that full quantity available on hand in inventory. In this case the available items will have their average cost value changed, but the remaining adjustment amount will be posted to Inventory Adjustment Overflow.
Payables Discounts Taken- If you apply discountable terms when paying an Accounts Payable invoice, the amount of the discount will be posted to the default account you associate with Payables Discounts Taken.
Payables Pending- This account will be posted to when you post a receipt which contains “valued” inventory items. It will be countered with a posting to your default Inventory account. Once the associated AP Invoice is posted, the amount will be removed from Pending Payables and moved to the default AP Account.
Payroll- Accrued- This default is used to identify the account where total payroll liability will accrue once the payroll period is posted. This account will be cleared when payroll is reconciled. This default is only used if Payroll has been activated.
Payroll- Burden Applied- This default will define the account into which Estimated Labor Burden will be posted at the time that the payroll period is posted. This default is only used if Payroll has been activated and you select to post labor burden to the default ELB account when setting up payroll. This default type points to a Direct Cost account.
Payroll- Est. Labor Burden- This default is used to identify the account into which, at the time that the payroll period is reconciled, the system will post (credit) the total Estimated Labor. This account is only used if Payroll has been activated and you have selected post labor burden to G/L as indicated by pay items during payroll setup. This default type points to an Operating Expense account.
Retainage Payables- This default identifies where retainage withheld on a posted AP invoice will be accumulated. This account points to a liability account.
Retainage Receivables- This default identifies where retainage withheld on a posted AR invoice will be accumulated. This account points to an Asset (Receivables) account.
Retained Earnings- This default identifies the account into which the system will record retained earnings when a Fiscal Year ends. Retained Earnings are calculated when the first period of the next fiscal year is compiled.
Returns and Allowances- This default type is used to identify the account which will be used when the Adjustment Code “Customer Refunds” is used.
Sales Tax- Sales tax associated with a line item on an Accounts Receivable invoice which is posted to this account. This default points to a liability account.
Warranty Expense Excess- Installs- This default is used to identify the account in which expenses beyond the amount previously set aside for Warranty Reserve will be posted. You may choose to point this default to the same account used for Warranty Expense- Installs.
Warranty Expense- Installs- This default is used to identify the account in which expenses related to an in-house warranty will be posted. The default points to a Direct Cost account. Entries are made to the account when Warranty Reserve is posted, or charges are made against the warranty on an AR Invoice. Entries to this default are countered with an entry to the account associated with the Default type Agreement Reserve.

Changing a Default Account

On the Default Account Tab of General Ledger Setup, highlight the default type you want to change.
In the right panel of the form, click on the account you want to set as the default account.
Select the Eligible/Sub-Accounts for Accounts Payable.
Click Yes to confirm.

NOTE: It is important that the correct default account has been selected prior to posting transactions. Once an account carries a balance, it cannot be changed. If you must make a change to the default once the currently selected account has a balance, you must use a journal entry bring the account's balance to zero, then change the default. Then via journal entry move the original default account balance to the newly selected account.

How Does Successware Platform Departmentalize?

Unlike some other accounting software packages, Successware Platform DOES NOT use sub-accounts to departmentalize income and expenses. Instead, each transaction that posts to an account in the general ledger contains a debit or a credit as well as a department number that indicates what department the entry is associated with. This amounts to an additional column being added to a general ledger account. Instead of just a "Debit" and "Credit" column, there is also a "Department" column.

Each entry that is made to an account on the income statement must have department number that identifies which department is responsible for the income or expense.

Each entry that posts to the balance sheet will automatically post to the default "Administrative" department (department number "00"). This is because the balance sheet in Successware Platform is not departmentalized. The Administrative department is set up in Successware Platform by default and cannot be changed or deleted.

For Example, an Accounts Receivable invoice that is posted which includes a $150 sale of a repair performed by the Residential Service department (Department 20 in this example) would result in the following general ledger transaction:

General Ledger Account	Department	Debits	Credits
1101 (AR)	00 (Administrative)	150
3005 (Sales- Repair)	20 (Residential Service)		150

This method of departmentalization allows for financial reports, such as the Income Statement to be run separately by department by merely "filtering" the Department column for occurrence of postings related to a particular department when running the report.

Departments

Successware Platform allows you to use departments to create separate profit and loss statements for each cost center. All transactions that post to the General Ledger, whether payables, receivables, or inventory transactions, must have a department assigned to them.

Use departments to split income and expenses for reporting purposes. A good way to determine if a group or type of work should be considered a department is to ask if it could be considered a profit center. Typically, a department is a “profit center” if you are going to want to print a separate Income Statement for it.

Each transaction that is posted to an account on the income statement must reference a department (or departments if you are splitting an expense). The Balance sheet is not departmentalized in Successware Platform, rather all transactions that post to asset, liability or equity accounts are posted to the default Administrative department, which is represented by code 00.

Successware Platform comes installed with a standard list of departments. As with establishing your Chart of Accounts, compare your list of departments to the standard list included in Successware Platform. You will then:

Deactivate Departments
Change department descriptions, and/or
Add departments.

NOTE: If there is an area of your company for which you need to track specific General Ledger posting it needs to be created as a department.

Deactivating a Department

Just as with general ledger accounts, if a department has been involved in posted financial transactions, the department cannot be deleted. If you no longer plan to use a department and cannot or do not wish to delete the department, you can choose to deactivate the department instead. A deactivated department can still be included in reports but is not available for new posted transactions.

To Deactivate or Reactivate a Department

Navigate to the Main Menu, select General Ledger and then click on the Department.
Click edit on the Department that you want to deactivate and Deselect the active box.

To reactivate a department, check the Activate box under the edit section of desired department.

Changing or Editing a Department Description

If you want to simply change the name of an existing department you may choose to edit it.

Go to Setup in the Main Menu, select General Ledger and then click on the subtab, "4 Departments".
To change the description of a department, click the Edit option.
Enter the new description and click Save.

Adding a New Department

New departments added to Successware Platform consist of a Department Code and a Description. The Department code must be two characters and can be any combination of letters and numbers.

Click on the Department tab in the General Ledger section of Quick Start, or go to Setup in All Modules, select General Ledger and then click on the Department.
To add a department, click New Department.
Enter a 2-digit department number or letters and a description.
Click Save.

Fiscal Periods

Before you can start using the accounting modules you need to set up the financial periods and activation dates.

Financial periods are nothing more than your fiscal year and the number of periods your fiscal year is comprised of. Generally, a fiscal year will be divided into 12 periods (one for each month).

Creating a Fiscal Period

Select All Modules, choosing Setup and selecting General Ledger Setup
From the Periods/Activation tab of General Ledger Setup, click on the New Year button located at the bottom of the form.
Enter the description you wish to use for the fiscal year and the number of periods it will consist of. The number of periods can be 12 or 13.
Click Save.
The system will display all fiscal periods for the year in the panel on the right side of the form. All periods will be marked as Inactive.

Changing the End Date of a Period

If your fiscal periods have different ending dates, you may modify the ending dates of each period. For instance, if your fiscal periods end on the last Friday of each month rather than the last day of the month, you will change the ending date to the actual date of the last Friday.

Click to select Modify End Date.
Select the actual date from the calendar that is displayed.
Continue to change the end date of each month until all periods are correct.
Click Save.

Adding Another Fiscal Year

In the Period/Years tab of the General Ledger Setup, Click the New Year button located at the bottom of the form.
Enter the description you wish to use for the new year.

Select whether the year you are adding should be previous to the existing or a future year. The number of periods will default based on the existing fiscal year.

Click Save. The system will create the next or previous year based on the existing fiscal year.

NOTE: If you are entering beginning balances as of January 1, you must add the prior year as well as the current year. When entering beginning balances for the General Ledger, the system will date the transactions 12/31 (ending balances) so they will post forward as beginning balances.

Opening a Fiscal Period

A fiscal period must be opened in order for you to post transactions within the period.

Click on the icon and within the Setup options, click on General Ledger Setup.
Select the Period/Year subtab.
Select the fiscal year that contains the period you want to open.
Find the earliest period you wish to open and click Update Period Status.

From the Period Status drop-down list, choose Open and click Save.

The selected period, as well as all of the following periods in the fiscal year, will be marked as active.

Expense Groups

Expense Groups are a reporting tool that allows you to separate your operating expenses into groups that will contain subtotals.

Expense Groups are used to define how you group operating expenses on your Income Statement Report (profit & loss statement).

By default, the system will report income, direct costs, and operating expenses in separate sections of the report. If you wish to group the operating expenses by Expense Type, you can define that here. For instance, you may have groups for advertising, employee-related concerns, plant & equipment expenses, etc.

There are two rules for setting up Expense Groups:

All of the accounts in a group must fall in consecutive numeric order in the Chart of Accounts, and
If any of your operating expense accounts belong to a group, ALL of the remaining accounts must belong to a group as well.

Starting Balances

The last major step to setting up General Ledger in Successware Platform is the entry of opening balances. Starting balances are really your closing balances on the last day you are using your old financial software. Those numbers are then brought into Successware Platform as the starting numbers where they are then added and subtracted from as you begin processing financials in Successware Platform.

Opening balances do not have to be entered before you begin your actual General Ledger processing, as you often will not have them for a couple of weeks after your GL activation date, but they must be entered before you can begin to perform any financial reporting out of Successware Platform.

Opening balances cannot be entered until General Ledger has been activated. Opening balance entries will be dated automatically, the date that immediately precedes your General Ledger Activation date.

Entering Starting Balances

Starting balances are entered through the "General Ledger Starting Balance" feature within the Setup module.

From the Main Menu, click Setup, and select General Ledger Starting Balance.
Click the New button.
From the Account drop-down field, select the account for which you are entering a balance. If the chosen account has sub-accounts, you can also choose a sub-account.
In the Department drop-down, select the department.
In the Debit or Credit field, type the account’s credit or debit balance.
Press the Save button to save the entry.
Press New to add another opening balance.
Continue to add all balances for your accounts.
NOTE: At any time, you can review a list of the accounts you have entered, as well as a total of all debits and credits, by pressing the review button. In order for you to post your opening balances to General Ledger, debits and credits must balance to zero.
Once all of your balances have been entered and reviewed, press the Post button to post them to General Ledger.
Press the Finalize button to lock the balances from being changed.

AR Beginning Balances

When entering your General Ledger Opening balances you will enter a total outstanding Accounts Receivable balance. After entering the total outstanding AR balance you will need to enter your individual Accounts Receivable beginning balances. This will be an individual listing of all of the outstanding items owed to you by your customers.

Once all of the outstanding items have been entered and posted you will finalize the list. The list of outstanding Receivable items cannot be finalized unless the total of the outstanding items equals the Accounts Receivable opening balance that you have entered.

Once the outstanding items have been entered, they will be available to process.

Receivables beginning balances are entered through Setup in Successware Platform.

Click the to open the Main Menu.
Select Setup and click the Receivables Starting Balance.
Select the Search button.
Search by customer name, address, or account number. Once you find the account, select the radio button and click the Select button.
Follow the on-screen instructions to enter the information. When complete, select Save.
Note: To search for an existing billing account, enter part of the account information (such as ID or name) and click the Search button.
Add the first outstanding invoice for the Billing Account. The invoice date MUST be prior to the activation date.
After posting the first invoice, you can add another invoice for the same customer if needed.
Complete the steps until all billing accounts and invoices have been entered.
Use the Show Entries button to review the invoices that have been entered for the current Billing Account, and Show All Entries to review the invoices that have been entered for all Billing Accounts.
If an invoice was entered incorrectly, click the Show All Entries button and click the Delete button to delete it.
When all Billing Accounts and invoices have been entered, verify that all invoices and accounts are correct AND that the total is the same as the Accounts Receivable balance in General Ledger.
Once all data is correct, select Finalize to post the starting balances. Once you have Finalized the balances, you will not be able to use Quick Start to enter outstanding invoices.

AP Beginning Balances

When entering you General Ledger Opening balances you will enter a total outstanding Accounts Payable balance. After entering the total outstanding AP balance, you will need to enter your individual Accounts Payable beginning balances. This will be an individual listing of all of the outstanding items you owe to your vendors.

Once all of the outstanding items have been entered and posted you will Finalize the list. The list of outstanding Payables items cannot be finalized unless the total of the outstanding items equals the Accounts Payable opening balance that you have entered.

Once the outstanding items have been entered, they will be available to process like any other open payables item on vendor’s account.

Vendor beginning balances are entered through the Accounting Section from the Main Menu.

Click the to open the Main Menu.
Select Accounting, and click on Vendor Balances.
Click the New button to add a vendor.
Follow the on-screen instructions to enter the information. If the vendor you enter is already in the system, it will display in the Auto Search Results panel located at the top right corner of the window. To avoid entering duplicate vendors, be sure to watch the Auto Search Results. When complete, select Save.
Select the Add Invoice subtab to add the first outstanding invoice for the vendor. The invoice date MUST be prior to the activation date.
After posting the first invoice, you can add additional invoices for the same vendor, or use the New button to add the next vendor.
Complete the steps until all vendors and invoices have been entered.
Use the Show Entries button to review the invoices that have been entered for the current vendor, and Show All Entries to review the invoices that have been entered for all vendors.
If an invoice was entered incorrectly, click the Show All Entries button to find it, and click the Delete button to remove it.
When all vendors and invoices have been entered, select Summary to preview and/or print a list of the information that was entered. Verify that all invoices and vendors are correct AND that the total is the same as the Accounts Payable balance in General Ledger.
Once all data is correct, select Finalize to post the starting balances. Once you have Finalized the balances, you will not be able to use Quick Start to enter outstanding invoices.

Sale & Expense Types

Two of the Reference Tables that must be set up in Successware Platform are the Sale Type and Expense Type tables.

Sale Types identify the different types of things that you sell, such as labor, equipment, parts, and flatrate service. Sale Types are then attached to items in your PriceBook that could be included on an Accounts Receivable Invoice. Items that are included on AR Invoices include tasks, parts and labor items as well as coupons and discounts. Therefore, Sale Types are pointed to Income accounts in the General Ledger as well as Returns and Allowances accounts.

Expense Types identify the different types of things you have to pay for. These can be either Expenses (direct cost or overhead) or can be related to outstanding liabilities, such as a loan. Expense Types are attached to items in your PriceBook that can be included on AP Invoices, Inventory transactions and even Pay Items such as Commissions and Hourly Wage items.

Sale and Expense Types in Successware serve as "pointers" to General Ledger accounts. These pointers are used by Successware to determine where to post the General Ledger entry associated with each line item on a posted transaction.

When the PriceBook items are included in Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable invoices, or inventory transactions, the appropriate debits and credits will automatically be applied to the correct accounts based upon the Sales or Expense Type, at the time of posting.

While the creation of Expense and Sale Types is not actually part of General Ledger set-up, we highly recommend that you create them at this time.

Adjustment Codes

Adjustment codes are drop-down lists used to identify the reason that a change is being made to an operational balance in a module of Successware. These drop-down lists of reasons are associated with general ledger accounts. When you need to make a change to a customer's balance or a vendors balance for example, that is not associated with a new invoice or payment, an adjustment can be recorded. When making an adjustment you will identify the amount of the adjustment and then choose an adjustment code which will identify why you are making the change and what general ledger account will be affected by the transaction.

There are six adjustment codes that are used in Successware Platform:

Accounts Receivable Adjustment Codes- These codes are used to make adjustments to customer AR balances from within the customer Billing Account History screen.
Account Payable Adjustment Codes- These adjustment codes are used to make adjustments to Vendor balances from within the Vendor Account History screen.
Cash Box or Check Book Adjustment Codes- These adjustment codes are used within your register accounts to make adjustments to account balances. Examples include credit card fees, bank fees, interest earned and finance charges.
Inventory Adjustment Codes- These adjustment codes are used to make changes to the asset value of your inventory to account for such things as physical counts or product loss.
Receipt Distribution Codes- These adjustment codes are used when recording Miscellaneous Cash Receipts from the Receivables Manger. They represent the reasons miscellaneous cash is being received into the system.
Check Distribution Codes- These adjustment codes are used when recording miscellaneous payments made from one of your register accounts.

Looking for a more interactive course on General Ledger Setup? Check out our Learning Management System (LMS)! Our courses are available to all Successware users. If you don't have a sign-in for our LMS, contact us at training@successware.com for a free account.

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